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Summer 1, Week 2 – Blog
We have had a productive week in Year 4.
In English this week the children have practiced many skills and reviewed many features of a recount. To start the week the children look at identifying and using time adverbial’s within a sentence. The following day we looked at using apostrophes and identifying when they should or should not be used. The children had to grasps this tricky concept and have done so quickly. Then we looked at adverbials in a sentence and that they answer: where, where or how something happened. To conclude the week the children wrote a newspaper article all about Little Mouse (our focus book) and the fears he has encountered.
In maths this week we have been focusing on multiplication and division. The children rehearsed how to multiply two digit and three digit numbers by a one digit number using formal written layout. The children then learnt how to Use place value, known and derived facts to multiply and divide mentally, including multiplying by 0 and 1; dividing by 1. To conclude the week we practiced multiplying three numbers together, some children even completed these calculations with a missing number!
In Project we spent the week learning about Banksy. The kick off the week the children created a Banksy fact file, in which they had to include the little we do know about the anonymous artists! The children really enjoyed the mystery surrounding him and his artwork. The children had to think deeply about the messages his work is trying to convey. We then spent an afternoon recreating his art. It was incredibly challenging but the children rose to the occasion. They first had to trace an image, create a stencil, use it to draw and outline and then finally shade it in. It produced some fantastic pieces of work!
Our science this week was again centred on the digestive system. The children learnt scientific vocabulary, they are now able to understand and describe the process of digestion with the support of images and diagrams. We also looked at the similarities and differences between the digestive systems of different animals and humans.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Summer 1, Week 1 – Blog
We have had a good first week back in Year 4. We hope you had a lovely half term. We have begun new units of work across all areas of the curriculum.
In English we have started our topic of recounts. We will be looking at retelling stories, writing letters, instructions and newspaper reports. The children will be looking at the following features within our writing; using subheadings, expanded noun phrases which inform, using commas to separate adjectives, using relative clauses to add further detail and finally using relative pronouns. We are focusing on the book ‘Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears’. The children have been considering their own fears and phobias which they have been writing about and recounting.
In maths this week we are looking at multiplication facts. Throughout the week we have focused on all of our times tables. The children have also been practicing using their inverse (e.g. something divided by 8 is 56). The children are making great progress on their recall and have been able to increase the speed in which they do this.
In Project we started our topic ‘Urban Pioneers’. This is an art based Project, whereby the children will be looking at examples of urban and street art. For our hook lesson the children got the opportunity to create their own pieces of graffiti using chalk in the playground. The children have looked at lots of examples of art and then reproduced it using paint. The children also now understand the purpose of urban art.
Our science unit this term is ‘Circle of Life’. This week we focused on the digestive system and the organs that make it up. The children used everyday objects to demonstrate peristalsis and the other workings of the digestive system. The children then labelled and explained the function of the various parts of the digestive system.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 2, Week 4 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in year 4.
This week in English we have continued with our ‘myths and legends’ topic. We started by finishing the myth ‘The taming of Venus’, and the children had to write similes and metaphors to describe the characters. We then started go read a new myth called ‘The City of Dreams’, whereby the children had to identify figurative language and decide why they think the author chose to include it. To finish the week, the children were asked many questions about the myth, for example: how would you describe the main character? Do you think the characters will survive? How do you think the myth should end? This will support them in next week’s work where the children will need to write their own ending to the myth.
In maths this week we have been focusing on perimeter and area of shapes. We started the week by working out the perimeter or regular, then irregular shapes. We moved on to calculating the area of regular shapes and then rectilinear shapes. The children found this quite tricky so we made sure to work collaboratively to support one another. To conclude the week we looked at calculating the area of shapes when one of the sides is missing its length.
Our Project learning this week was centred on our tip to Celtic Harmony Camp. The children had a fantastic day and thoroughly enjoyed going back to the Stone Age. We followed this up by the children competing a double page spread showing what they did on their trip. The children produced some fantastic pieces of work.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 2, Week 3 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in year 4.
The children have spent most of the week completing their checkpoints. The children have worked extremely hard and we are incredibly proud of them. We have gone through the checkpoints as a class to help the children identify where they went wrong and where their strengths and weaknesses are. The children have been allowed to take their checkpoints home and you will have the chance to discuss the children’s results at parents evening.
In Project we have been completing some art work. We have looked in depth at cave paintings and what the purpose of them might have been. In our first lesson we experimented with different techniques using pencils, chalk and oil pastels. We decided which technique would be the most effective when doing our cave drawings. The children then created their own cave paintings producing some fantastic pieces of art!
This week in science we have looked at ‘fruit, shoot, root or leaf?’ We have ben completing some research on plants, we have been classifying vegetables into different groups and then completing some close up drawings of a variety of fruits using oil pastels.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 2, Week 2 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in year 4.
In English we continued to look at myths. Our focus myth was ‘The Taming of Venus’. The children had to read the myth and identify the figurative language, the children found use of similes, metaphors and personification. After this, their figurative language had to be embedded into a character description. They then had to write some of their own about Venus. When we finished reading the myth, which ends m a cliff hanger, the children were allowed to write their own ending. The children produced some highly imaginative pieces of work that really impressed us.
In maths this week we have been looking at column addition and subtraction using four digit numbers. We recapped with the children whether the smaller or larger number should go first and if it depends on the operation being used. We then practiced our carrying and borrowing skills. To conclude the week we looked at addition and subtraction, two step word problems.
In Project we have moved on to learning about the Bronze Age, we considered how it was mined and retrieved. The children had to image they were a child from the Bronze Age and write a diary entry about what it would be like. For the second and third session of the week we looked at prehistoric homes. The children had to draw and compare homes from the stone, bronze and Iron Age. We then looked in more depth at the Iron Age and the advantages and disadvantages of hillforts.
This week in science we have continued to monitor our experiments from last week to see if our seedlings have grown. We will continue to do this for the next few weeks. We then played a game whereby the children had to answer a series of questions on plants to help us determine what we already know and what we want to know. We then spent the rest of the lesson looking at different types of plants. We went out into the playground to retrieve plants, specifically ones with roots. We then came back to the classroom and did an up close observational drawing of the plant. The children had to label it and discuss what they noticed.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 2, Week 1 – Blog
We have had a good first week back in Year 4. We hope you had a lovely half term. We have begun new units of work across all areas of the curriculum.
In English we have started our ‘Myths and Legends’ topic. We have spent the week exploring Greek and Roman Gods. The children have been describing chosen gods, writing reports and fact files! The children were introduced to the new unit through our hook lesson, whereby the children worked in groups designing their own mythical creature. However, each child was responsible for a different part of the body and they were unable to communicate or see the others drawing. We needed up with some really fantastic creatures which supported them with writing a descriptive paragraph.
In maths this week we are looking at statistics. We have spent the week showing the children how to interpret various types of data. The children have been reading bar charts and drawing their own. We also have been looking at tables and how to extract the relevant information from them.
In Project we started our ‘Tribal Tales’ topic. It was fantastic to see children come in wearing their Stone Age clothes, which really helped to ‘set the scene’. The children have been making their own Stone Age jewellery which they thoroughly enjoyed. We have also looked at timelines and plotting key historic events along them. To conclude the week the children had to find out key facts about the three time periods we focused on – stone, bronze and Iron Age.
Our science unit this term is ‘Greatly Green Growers’. To get the children engaged we started this topic off by conducting an experiment. The children worked in groups of 5 looking at what plants need to grow. Each group was responsible for a different variable that impacts a plant; air, water, warmth, space, soil and water. The children were given three seeds to plant and had to decide how to test the importance of the variable. For example, the children looking at soil had to give one seed lots of soil, one seed some soil and the last seed no soil. Throughout the coming weeks we will monitor the growth of our seeds.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 1 , Week 6 – Blog
We have had another lovely week in Year 4.
In English we finished our persuasive writing unit. We had to combine all of our knowledge in order to produce a fantastic advert. Throughout the week the children worked in groups of 5. They had to initially decide on a unique product they were going to sell, from that they devised a story board to support them with the structure of the advert. The following day, the children wrote a script (building upon Autumn 2 skills) using features such as; rhetorical questions, expanded noun phrases, facts and statistics. To conclude the week the children were able to film their adverts and present it to the class. The children really enjoyed watching each other’s final product.
This week in maths we have focused on decimals. We started off by ordering decimals from smallest to largest, paying close attention to the tenths column. We then moved on to looking at numbers with two digits after the decimal. After this we looked at rounding decimals to the nearest whole number, which was a challenging skill, however the children persevered. To conclude the week the children looked at rounding to the nearest pound and how much they could get for their money.
This week in both project and science we completed our units. As at the end of every half term, the children completed their reflections whereby they have to look back at what they have learnt this half term. The children are asked to consider what they enjoyed learning, what was their favourite lesson, what they would like to learn more about and which lesson they think they were the most successful in.
We want to wish you a fantastic half term!
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 1 , Week 5 – Blog
We have had another lovely week in Year 4.
In English we continue to study persuasive writing. We have completed a range of activities this week. We finished writing our persuasive letters, which are going to be assessed. The children have also looked at persuasive posters and the features that make them persuasive. The classes have also taken part in whole class debates about various topics. The debates provided an opportunity to try and persuade their class mates to their point of view. The children thoroughly enjoyed the debates and learning in an alternative way.
This week in maths we started with looking at roman numerals. The children had to decipher how different number would be written in roman numerals. The following day the children completed addition and subtraction calculations in roman numerals. For the rest of the week we revisited rounding. We looked ta rounding numbers to the nearest 100 and then the nearest 1000.
This week in Project we continued our learning on rivers. We looked at meanders and what causes them to form. The children were then put into pairs and given a large sheet of tinfoil. They had to shape the tinfoil into a ‘meander’ which would help to demonstrate how water goes at different speeds depending on where it is in relation to the river bank. We then put out model on a hill and poured water into them.
We wanted to thank you to all the adults that attended the Year 4 class assemblies.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 1 , Week 3– Blog
We have had another lovely week in Year 4.
In English we continue to study persuasive writing. We started the week by finalising our plans for an advert for Disneyland. The children had o then write this up in neat, using a checklist to ensure they have included all the features of a persuasive advert. We then moved on to studying relative clauses in greater depth. The children were tasked with identifying them and then having to write some of their own.
This week in maths have been looking at equivalent fractions and converting them to decimals. We started out the week by looking at home fractions can look different, but have the same value. The children have been taught how to simplify fractions also. We have then learn how to convert a fraction into a decimal and vice versa.
In science we have been studying greenhouse gases and the impact they have on our planet. We looked at what greenhouse gasses are, what is causing them and how they are leading to global warming. We then carried out an experiment whereby we have two thermometers, one in an upside down glass, one not in a glass. Throughout the week we will be taking temperature readings throughout the week. The children predicted the thermometer in the glass to have a higher temperature, as it is mimicking the effect of greenhouse gasses.
This week in Project we learnt about erosion and deposition, also the uses of rivers. The children learnt what erosion and deposition are and where they can be seen along the course of a river. We also looked at how humans use rivers, such as for leisure or indicts. The children had to think of the positive and negative impacts of these activities, such as an influx of money into the area, however possible increase in pollution.
We are getting ever closer to the Young Voices concerts, we have been practicing everyday as a cohort. Please encourage your children to practice the songs and dance moves, which can be accessed through the young voices app or YouTube.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 1 , Week 2 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in Year 4.
In English we are still looking at persuasive writing. We started the week by carrying out research on Disneyland to support us with writing an advert. The children had to find out key facts and information in order to write a persuasive and informative advert. The children identified rhetorical questions, relative clauses, repetition and expanded noun phrases in example adverts. The children then planned their advert with the support of existing adverts. The children have started to write their own advert which they will complete next week.
This week in maths have been looking at dividing and multiplying. We started the week by dividing numbers by 10, then 100. We then moved on to multiplying numbers by 10, then 100. Throughout the week the children have been using place value sliders to support them. To conclude the week we had to use our new found skills within the context of word problems.
In science we have continued to learn about habitats and eco systems. We focused on the animals living in different habitats and the impact humans have on them. We discussed endangered animals and whether their decline in numbers is due to natural or human causes.
This week in Project we learnt about the features of a river. The children had to identify the lower, middle and upper course of a river. We tasked the children with drawing a diagram displaying this, along with labels. We then asked the children describe the features of each ‘section’ of the river.
We are getting ever closer to the Young Voices concerts, we have been practicing everyday as a cohort. Please encourage your children to practice the songs and dance moves, which can be accessed through the young voices app or YouTube.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Spring 1 Week 1 – Blog
We have had a great first week back in school across Year 4. We have begun new topics across all areas of the curriculum that the children are keen to learn about.
In English we looking at persuasive writing. We started the week by looking at adverts and the features that are used to persuade the consumer. The children were able to identify rhetorical questions and imperative verbs. We moved on to looking at the use of relative clauses and how they are used in advertising. We have studied various adverts in detail and commented on the use of storyline and music to engage an audience. To conclude the week the children were tasked with creating an advert for a random object. In their table groups they had to ‘sell’ their product to the rest of the class.
This week in maths we have been focusing on multiplication, specifically short multiplication, using the column method. All the children have shown resilience this week in this topic. Despite it being a challenge all the children have worked extremely hard. We have practiced multiplying two digit by one digit numbers and three digit by one digit numbers. Some children even attempted three digit by two digit calculations. I would encourage you to have the children practicing this at home as it is a skill t baht will serve them well when learning new skills in maths, such as long multiplication.
In science this half term out topic if ‘Habitat Helpers’. We have learnt what a habitat and an ecosystem is and how they can be affected by the activities of humans. The children went out into the school grounds trying to identify different habitats and ecosystems. The children then completed a ‘local habitat survey’, whereby they had to write down every habitat they could see and the potential impact humans may have upon it.
This half terms project topic if ‘Flow’. We started this week by looking at the water cycle. On Monday the children learnt about the four stages of the water cycle; evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection. On Thursday we went into further detail about the cycle. The children had to define the water cycle and the four stages.
As always, should you have any questions about the content of the lessons, or how to teach a concept, please do not hesitate to speak to the Year 4 teachers at pick up.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Autumn 2 - Week 7 - Blog
What a lovely week and a bit we have had! The Autumn term has flown by and the children have worked extremely hard, they have certainly earned a well deserved break.
The Christmas productions were a huge success and watching the children perform brought so much joy to staff and children alike.
Throughout the week we have been completing lots of Christmas activities in English and maths. We had the joy of baking gingerbread biscuits and making Christmas cards for a people in a residential home. Thank you to all of those who came or contributed to the Christmas fayre, it was a huge success.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in the new year!
Best wishes from the Year 4 team.
Autumn 2, Week 6 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in Year 4.
We have continued to read ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in English. The children were tasked with deciding what they think may come next in the story. They had to plan out the scene, the characters, setting description and dialogue. The children had to include all the features of a play script including setting descriptions, stage directions and character names.
In maths this week we have continued our topic of geometry. We have been learning how to work out the perimeters and areas of 2D shapes. We have looked at regular and irregular shapes. Whilst this is a challenging area the children have been successful and have persevered.
This week in science we completed our topic – ‘Shining the Light’. We focused on shadows this week and how they are formed. They children looked at how opaque objects cause a shadow due to them blocking the light rays. The children got to make shadow puppets and experiment with them using torches. To conclude the week we reflected on our unit of work, where the children had to decide which lessons/learning they enjoyed the most and what they would like to learn more about.
In Project we started learning in more depth about earthquakes. We had to label the different parts of an earthquake, identify and understand the impact an earthquake can have. We then looked at the Richter scale and how earthquakes are measured.
We have continued our rehearsals for the Christmas play and cannot wait for you to see all the hard work the children are putting in!
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Autumn 2, Week 5 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in Year 4.
We have continued to read ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in English. We have been focusing on Scene 9 that takes place in the palace gardens. The children had to act out the first part of a croquet scene in their table groups. We then compared the play script version to the book version, highlighting the similarities and differences between them. The children have also now generated ideas on what they think might come next in the play. We are going to start writing our own play script based upon their ideas.
In maths this week we have continued our topic of geometry. We have been looking at plotting coordinates and reading them on a grid.
This week in science we continued our topic – ‘Shining the Light’. We studied materials and whether they were transparent, translucent or opaque. The children had to wrote the definitions of these words and write/find as many objects that fit this description as possible!
In Project we started learning about tsunamis. We learnt all about what they are, what causes them, the damage they cause, how to prevent them and how to prepare for them. Our first lesson we had to create a survival kit for all of the things we may need if a tsunami occurred. We then looked at how earthquakes can lead to them. We created a fact sheet around all we have learnt.
We have continued our rehearsals for the Christmas play and cannot wait for you to see all the hard work the children are putting in!
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Autumn 2, Week 4 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in Year 4.
The children have started a new topic in English. We are reading ‘Alice in Wonderland’, both the story and the adapted play script version. Our focus until half term will be play scripts, which has a lovely link to our Christmas play. The children have been identifying features of a play script such as stage directions, the speakers name and setting descriptions. The children have been comparing the book and the play script describing the similarities and differences between them. To conclude we the week we wrote a character profile for Alice to help the children get a better understanding of her character.
In maths this week we have started our topic of geometry. On Monday we looked at the different types of triangles and how to identify them (right-angle triangle, isosceles, scalene and equilateral). On Tuesday we look at quadrilaterals and how to identify them (kite, trapezium, square, rectangle, parallelogram and rhombus). We then spent the rest of the week looking at reflecting shapes and line of symmetry.
This week in science we continued our topic – ‘Shining the Light’. We looked at reflective materials and the properties that enable them to reflect light. The children were tasked with designing an outfit that would help someone stay safe and seen in the dark. The children had to use key vocab such as; reflective, shiny, light, dark, reflective, luminescent, and bright.
In Project we started learning about mountains. We have looked at how they are formed and the features of them. The children were tasked with labelling these features and giving a brief definition. We drew lots of similarities and differences between mountains and volcanoes also.
We have begun our rehearsals for the Christmas play and cannot wait for you to see all the hard work the children are putting in!
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Autumn 2, Week 3 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in Year 4.
The children have been completing their checkpoints this week in reading/English, maths/arithmetic and SPaG. We have been thrilled with how hard the children have worked and their attitude towards the checkpoints. We have spent time going through the papers analysing what could be improved upon and identify gaps in the children’s knowledge. Should you wish, upon request, you may take home your child’s checkpoint papers and return them to the teacher for safe keeping.
This week in science we continued our topic – ‘Shining the Light’. We identified different light sources across the school and whether they were artificial or natural sources. We also spoke about some materials being reflective and the properties of these materials.
In Project we went into further detail about volcanos. The children had to label parts of a volcano and define them. We ended the week by learning all about Pompeii. It was a fantastic lesson that the children really enjoyed. We learnt about the events and about Mount Vesuvius. We watched an animated video depicting what it might have been like when the volcano erupted and we role played as if we were there. The children were then tasked with writing a diary entry as though they were a civilian from Pompeii.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Autumn 2, Week 2 – Blog
We have had a lovely week in Year 4.
In English have continued learning about nonsense poetry and its features. Throughout the week the children have had to identify these features and highlight them in our focus poem. We have spent a lesson focusing on alliteration; why we use it, how we use it and its impact it has on the reader. As a class we rewrote Spike Milligan’s poem which supported the children in writing their own poem, which was assessed.
This week in maths we have continued looking at fractions. The children have learnt how to add and subtract fractions with the same denominator. We have looked at subtracting fractions from whole numbers and have even began to simplify our fractions! The children have been very successful despite the challenging nature of this topic.
This week in science we have started our new topic – ‘Shining the Light’. We looked at different light sources and how fast light travels. We completed an experiment whereby an object was placed in a dark box. The children had to see if they could identify the object first with no light, then with some light. We discussed why an object such as a mirror was easier to see than a dark piece of paper. We spoke about properties of these objects and how it being shiny may be why we could see it better.
In project we have started our new and exciting topic of ‘Tremors’. The children have designed their own model volcano which we will soon be making. We then moved on to looking at ‘The Ring of Fire’ and tectonic plates that can lead to earthquakes.
It has been a week packed full of new and fantastic learning!
Please be aware we will be completing check points next week.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Autumn 2, Week 1 – Blog
We have had a great first week back in school across Year 4. We have begun new topics across all areas of the curriculum that the children are keen to learn about.
In English we are studying nonsense poetry for the first two weeks. We have been reading ‘On the Ning Nang Nong’ by Spike Milligan. We have studied rhythm, rhyme and rhyming couplets. The children were tasked with identifying the amount of syllables in lines and stanzas and we have worked as a class to write a new version of the poem. The children have enjoyed reading these funny ‘made-up’ poems and have been able to identify the features they must include.
This week in maths we have started to look at fractions. We have begun to look at equivalent fractions and how to convert them to decimals. The children have grasped this challenging skill and are beginning to become more confident in applying this knowledge. We have been using fraction walls to support us and pictorial representations.
This week has been Interfaith Week in which we have been participating in two sessions per afternoon focused on one of the six main religions; Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. We also wanted to extend our thanks to those who attended or sent food in for our Interfaith Week Session today. As a team we were overwhelmed by how many contributions we had and we had a fantastic turn out of adults sharing the experience with us this afternoon. This made a it a truly great experience for the children. A special thanks to adults who stayed behind and helped clean up at the end of afternoon - it was very much appreciated.
Have a lovely weekend,
Best wishes,
Year 4 Team
Blog - Week 7
We have had a great last week in Year 4.
In English we finished reading The War of the Worlds. The children have written their assessed piece of writing and have really impressed us. The children have shown us they are able to effectively apply their new learnt skills into their writing. Continue the fantastic work year 4!
In maths we have been focusing short multiplication and division. The children have worked extremely hard to understand this new and challenging topic. Most of the children are even able to complete calculations including remainders!
In both science and project this week we have been reflecting on this half terms learning. The children have looked over their work and we have discussed what our favourite areas of learning have be. We have spoken about what we would like to learn more about and why.
Some of our homework this term will be focused on these areas of learning so make sure the children get involved to help to further progress their learning.
Have fantastic half term,
Year 4 team.
Blog - Week 6
We have had a great week in Year 4.
In English we are getting to the end of our book. Next week we will be writing an assessed piece based on our rewrite of Chapter 9. This week we have been planning out all parts of our writing. We started the week with a focus on dialogue and explicitly planned conversations taking place in our piece. We then split our chapter into 6 sections and decided what would be the main topic in each. Throughout the week we have been checking our work was meeting the assessment criteria; fronted adverbials, subordinate clauses, dialogue and expanded noun phrases. Next week we will write up our chapter in full.
In maths we have been focusing on our times tables. We have looked at all the following times tables: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11’s. We have been learning lots of ‘tips and tricks’ to help us to recall our times tables. The children have all worked really hard on this. We have been using 100 squares to support our learning and have even learnt some songs to help us too.
In science our topic for the half term is ‘Our Planet Rocks’. This week we continued our soil experiments. We compared 3 more samples of soil and predicted if they were going to be ‘soakers’ or ‘drainers’. We set up an experiment whereby we would test to see how many millilitres of water seeped through each soil. We recorded this in both a table and a graph. At the end of the experiment we had to draw conclusions about our results and whether our predictions were accurate or not.
We continued our project learning this week focusing on the Olympics. The children learnt that the Olympics originated in ancient Greece and how the games looked back then. We studied the people who were allowed to compete and the different events that took place. We then looked at Olympic artefacts. Our task was to draw our own and write about what it may suggest/tell us about the ancient Greek civilizations and their practices. Later on in the week we looked at timelines throughout history. We had to use our knowledge of the ancient Greeks to help us create a timeline of events.
Some of our homework this term will be focused on these areas of learning so make sure the children get involved to help to further progress their learning.
Have a lovely weekend,
Year 4 team.
Blog - Week 5
We have had a great week in Year 4.
In English we have continued to read The War of the Worlds and have reached Chapter 8. This week we have been working on writing subordinate clauses and expanded noun phrases. The children have had to write their own idea of what happens in the upcoming chapter. We spent a lesson planning this and then focusing on dialogue. We looked at the features of dialogue and how to effectively integrate it into our writing.
In maths we have been looking at measurement. We started the week looking at converting millimetres, centimetres and metres. On Tuesday we looked at converting kilograms to grams, then Wednesday we had to convert millilitres to litres. On Thursday we looked at money and change. To conclude the week we looked at time (hours, minutes and seconds)
In science our topic for the half term is ‘Our Planet Rocks’. This week the children were ‘soil detectives’. We went out into the schools playground and collected three samples of soil from different areas. We took our samples back to the classroom and closely analysed them, describing what we could see. We then mixed our samples with water and wrote down our observations. We waited until the next say to see if the soil and water had separated.
We continued our project learning this week focusing specifically on women in ancient Greece and how their lives compared to women of modern day Britain. We learnt about how women lived in Athens and Sparta and how they differed. As a class we discussed our opinions on where we would rather have lived and how society has changed.
Some of our homework this term will be focused on these areas of learning so make sure the children get involved to help to further progress their learning.
Have a lovely weekend,
Year 4 team.
Blog - Week 4
We have had a great week in Year 4.
In English we have continued to read The War of the Worlds and are now halfway through the book. The children are thoroughly enjoying ready the sci-fi genre. We started the week by looking at expanded noun phrases. We moved on the identifying fronted adverbials and writing our own subordinate clauses. The children were then tasked with using their newly found skills in a piece of writing, whereby they had to recount chapter 5. The children have written some fabulous pieces of work.
In maths we have continued working on addition and subtraction using borrowing and regrouping. The children were challenged with completing two step word problems using both addition and sub traction. Whilst some children found this challenging they persevered. To conclude the week we consolidated this learning by
In science our topic for the half term is ‘Our Planet Rocks’. This week we looked as fossils, learning in depth about what they are and how they are formed. The children learnt about Mary Anning and the importance of her work. After this, the children were given the opportunity to make their own fossils. Using moulding clay and plaster of Paris the children make their very own fossilised shell.
Our project topic for this term is ‘Gods and Mortals’. This week we have been focused on Alexander the Great. The children have learnt about who he was and what he did to be deemed ‘great’. The children designed a book cover for the ‘new’ Alexander the Great book. We then moved on to making an informational poster/comic strip explaining many areas of his life and his accomplishments.
Some of our homework this term will be focused on these areas of learning so make sure the children get involved to help to further progress their learning.
Have a lovely weekend,
Year 4 team.
Blog – Week 3
We have had a lovely week in Year 4.
In English we have started a new topic. Our unit of work in centred on the book ‘The War of the Worlds’. We have read chapter one and two of the story and have been studying the structure of the paragraphs. We have been identifying ‘DASH’ (description, action, speech and how a character feels) and how it creates tension and suspense in a piece of writing. We revisited expanded noun phrases and wrote some of our own. We concluded the week with rewriting chapter 2 of the book to consolidate our learning.
In maths we have been looking at column addition and subtraction. As the week has progressed we have started using larger numbers and even moving into ‘borrowing’ territory! The children have grasped this skill really well and we have been impressed by their ability to challenge themselves.
In science our topic for the half term is ‘Our Planet Rocks’. This week we looked at bedrock and the types of rock you find in the local area. We studied the different rock types used in different buildings, and why they may have been selected. We also looked at what erosion is and why it occurs. We looked at different places across Hatfield and how erosion has changed their appearance.
Our project topic for this term is ‘Gods and Mortals’. We began the week by looking at ancient Greek artefacts such as clothing, pottery and armour. We discussed what interested us about them and what is might suggest to us about Greek civilisations. We then spent an afternoon looking in greater detail at different aspects of the ancient Greek lifestyle. The children chose whether they wanted to learn in more detail about clothing, food, homes, men, women or children.
Some of our homework this term will be focused on these areas of learning so make sure the children get involved to help to further progress their learning.
Have a lovely weekend,
Year 4 team.
Blog - Week 2
We have had a great week in Year 4. The children have continued to settle into their new classroom environments.
In English we have been writing setting descriptions based on a short film we have been watching. The children have been encouraged to use prepositional phrases in their work, embed adjectives and use expanded noun phrases. We have been trying to grow the children’s vocabulary and get them to implement this in their writing. The children have written some fantastic descriptions that have really ‘set the scene’!
In maths we have continued our learning about place value. We have focused on rounding to the neatest 10, 100 and then 1000! We have been using ‘rounding mountains’ to support our learning. The children have grasped this concept well and I look forward to giving them an additional challenge!
In science our topic for the half term is ‘Our Planet Rocks’. This week we performed experiments on the 6 main rock types we have been learning about. We had to correctly identify them and give them a label. After this, we tested the hardness, permeability and acidity of the rocks. We did this by seeing if they were easily scratched/marked, if they absorbed water or not and finally if putting a weak acid (vinegar) on its surface changed its overall structural integrity.
Our project topic for this term is ‘Gods and Mortals’. We began the week by learning about democracy in ancient Greece and how it has impacted modern day. We voted on different topics and then learnt about who couldn’t vote and why. We then moved on to compare and contrast the ancient Greek civilisations to modern day. The children were tasked with creating a poster that highlighted these similarities and differences. To conclude the week the children designed and made their own ancient Greek coin using cardboard, tinfoil and indentation methods.
Some of our homework this term will be focused on these areas of learning so make sure the children get involved to help to further progress their learning.
Have a lovely weekend,
Year 4 team.
Blog - Week 1
We have had a brilliant first week back in Year 4. The children have settled well into their new classes and are keen to begin their new topics of learning.
In English we have been writing non-chronological reports. We focused on the features we must include in order for it to be an effective piece of writing. As a class we worked together generating ideas and points of interest. We decided on sub headings to help us. We finally wrote our own non-chronological report.
In maths we are learning about place value. We started the week with reading and identifying the value of four digit numbers, we then moved on to representing four digit numbers using different manipulatives such as arrow cards, dienes and counters. To conclude the week we focused on comparing and ordering numbers using symbols to signify their value.
In science our topic for the half term is ‘Our Planet Rocks’. The children were introduced to this topic by getting the opportunity to closely examine various types of rocks. The children identified chalk, slate, granite, marble, sandstone and limestone. They were then tasked with drawing them and writing a description of the rocks texture, colour and overall appearance.
Our project topic for this term is ‘Gods and Mortals’. We began our investigation into Greek Gods and Goddesses by learning about the 12 most powerful gods. The children were then able to design and draw their own God!
Some of our homework this term will be focused on these areas of learning so make sure the children get involved to help to further progress their learning.